Weighing machine



J. L. FERGUSON WEIGHING MACHINE Filed April 4, 1935 Dec 2'3 1938aPatented Dec. 27, 1938 WEIGHING MACHINE John L. Ferguson, Joliet, Ill.,assignor to J. L. Ferguson Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation ofIllinois Application April 4, 1935, Serial No. 14,580

9 Claims.

This invention relates to weighing machines and more particularly tomachines for weighing cereal flakes and similar material in which it isdesired that consecutively small quantities of ma- 6 terial beaccurately weighed and delivered into the usual containers for retaildistribution.

In packaging cereal flakes and the like it is desirable that eachpackage contain an accurately predetermined weight of material. It isalso 10 desirable that the individual flakes or units of the preparedmaterial should not be crushed or otherwise distorted, but should bedelivered to the package in the same condition as when firstmanufactured.

15 An attempt has been made to package material such as cereal flakesaccording to predetermined bulk. However, this has been unsatisfactoryas the weight varies considerably relative to the bulk. Therefore,packaging machines 20 have heretofore been used in which a stream ofmaterial being delivered to the weighing device was cut off by means ofa sliding gate or similar device. Such structures, however, haveresulted in crushing a considerable amount of the ma- 25 terial and havebeen unsatisfactory for that and other reasons.

The present invention provides a weighing machine wherein cereal flakesand the like may be accurately and automatically weighed and suc- 30cessive packages may each be fllled with a substantially accuratepredetermined amount-byweight of material.

It is an object of the present invention to provides. weighing device inwhich predetermined 35 amounts-by-weight of material may be continuouslysegregated from the bulk of the material and delivered to consecutivelypositioned packages without crushing or otherwise damaging the material.

40 A further object is the provision of a weighing machine which willautomatically and accurately weigh material such as corn flakes withoutcrushing, and in which the amount-by-weight may be accurately varied toconform to the size of 45 the packages to which the material isdelivered.

The invention provides an automatic weighing machine for deliveringpredetermined amounts of accurately weighed material in which arelatively large continuous flow of the material may be supplied to thedevice, and accurate consecutive amounts-by-weight may be deliveredtherefrom without crushing the material.

The invention provides an efficient device for weighing material,particularly such as cereal 55 flakes, wherein approximate weights ofmaterial may be passed from a supply thereof to consecutive weighingdevices and small additional amounts added during a final weighingoperation to provide an accurate ultimate predetermined weight.

The invention contemplates a weighing assembly having a plurality ofweight responsive means arranged to advance a progressively increasingweight of material in a manner to deliver a predetermined ultimateweight.

It is also an object to provide a weighing device which may be entirelyautomatic in operation and may accurately segregate predeterminedamounts-by-weight of material from a continuously delivered supply by aplurality of consecutive weighing operations. Also, whereby theaccurately weighed material may be automatically delivered toconsecutively positioned cartons.

The invention also contemplates a weighing machine which will be of fewparts, without complicated mechanisms and in which the weighing devicesmay operate independently of any controlling or operating mechanism.

Further objects will be apparent from the speciflcation and the appendedclaims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic side elevation of one embodiment ofthe invention, a portion being broken away for purposes of illustration.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of one of the weighing receptacles, thefront side of the receptacle being broken away for purposes ofillustration.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the container retaining andtripping hook and its relation to the rotor blades. Figure 4 illustratesa method of providing individual drives for the shakers.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the em- 40 bodiment illustratedcomprises a chute I from which a relatively large amount of material,such as cereal flakes, may be delivered to an elongated open end pan orshaker 2, which latter may be movably supported by means of links 3. Inthe present instance, the links. 3 are shown as pivoted on the chute I.The pan 2 is connected to a crank shaft 4 by means of a link 5, and thecrank shaft is preferably constantly driven by means of a variable speedmotor 6. It will be apparent,

therefore, that the pan 2 will be operated as a shaker and acomparatively large continuous stream of flakes, such as indicated at I,may be delivered to a suitable weighing'receptacle associated with afirst weighing unit or scale 9. In

' normally retained in the position some cases it has been found that amore uniform stream of material is delivered if the shaker is operatedwith a sidewise vibratory movement instead of lengthwise as shown.

In the embodiment illustrated the weighing unit 9 comprises a baseportion it, having the weight pan on which a suitable predeterminedweight ii may be supported. It will be understood that any suitableweighing scales may be used, preferably of the balance type. The scaleis provided with outwardly extending arms l2 and ii on the outer ends ofwhich is pivoted a weighing receptacle or scale pan H to receive thematerial to be weighed.

It will be obvious that when suflicient material is delivered in thereceptacle ii to balance the predetermined weight ii, the receptaclewill move downwardly but will retain its vertical alignment. A fan-likerotor member I5 is transversely pivoted in the receptacle casing i4 andprovided with radially disposed blades i6, two of which, in the positionshown, form the bottom and one side of a receptacle chamber H. The rotori5 is shown bymeans of a hook member l8 pivoted on the casing at I! andhaving a downwardly extending portion normally engaged by the outer endof one of the blades is. The hook member i8 is also provided with anupwardly extending hooked portion Zil normally positioned above and outof contact with a stop 2|, which stop may be mounted on any convenientpart of the frame as indicated in Fig. 2.

The pan casing H is also provided with a downwardly extending chuteportion 22 from which flakes or other material delivered into thechamber I! will be discharged when the rotor I5 is rotated. The rotor i5is pivoted for free rotation in the casing i4 and is accurately balancedso that the accuracy of the weighing will not be disturbed with a changein position.

The delivery of a predetermined weight of flakes into chamber i! willcause the pan I 4 and its associated parts to move downwardly. Thedownward movement will cause the portion 20 of the hook i8 to strike thestop II and the rotor IE will be quickly released from the hook. Theweight of the flakes in the chamber l1 will cause the rotor I5 to moveone-fourth of a revolution and an approximately predetermined weight offlakes will be discharged from the chute 22. After the blade l6 has beenreleased from the hook I8 and the rotor i5 starts its movement, theimmediate discharge of a portion of the flakes from the chamber i! willrelieve the weight in the pan and the entire pan will rise, and aconsecutive blade i6 will engage the hook I! when the rotor has movedninety degrees. 7

The overhanging hook portion 20 is normally positioned somewhat abovethe stop 2| and out of contact therewith, whereby there will be nofriction on any of these parts when the casing starts downwardly and thecontinued accurate operation of the weighing mechanism will not beinterfered with.

The scales ill may be any well-known quickacting type and are usuallyprovided with some means such as a weight which is normally added to-theweight I I, and is so positioned that immediately the pan H- startsdownwardly, it will movequickly to a ing eflect of the weight II. willtherefore quickly drop and the rotor be accordingly quickly released.The hook ll acts as an escapement for the rotor II.

The material pan ll material may be delivered position to reduce thebalancdiately below the unit 9, whereby the material In the embodimentillustrated, this entire weighing unit is identical with the weighingunit 9 and it is believed that further description is unnecessary exceptto state that it is provided with a rotor IS, a hook I 8 and a stopmember 2|.

It should be particularly noted that, while the embodiment illustrated,shows only two weighing devices or scales, any desired number may beused, preferably in series relation as shown, whereby an increasingamount-by-weight of material may be delivered from one to another.

A chute 24 is positioned to deliver material to an open end shaker pan25 which latter'is supported by means of links 26 and is connected tothe crank shaft 4 by means of a link 21. shaker pan 2! and associatedparts are so constructed and arranged as to deliver a relatively smallsubstantially constant stream of material into the receptacle chamber IlThe second weighing unit 9 is, of course, protioned by a suitableconveyor and may be moved directly to a sealing device.

In normal continuous operation of the embodiment illustrated, acomparatively large continuous stream of material 1 passes into thereceptacle I1 of the first weighing unit. As soon as a predeterminedweight of the material is in the receptacle II, the downward movement ofthe pan causes an approximate predetermined weight of material to bedischarged through the chute 22 into the receptacle ll of the succeedingweighing unit, and the receptacle I! of the first unit is again fllledand the operation repeated. During the succeeding filling of thereceptacle II, the comparatively small stream of material 1' adds anextremely accurate predetermined weight to the material already in thesecond receptacle i 1" and this accurately predetermined weight causesthe discharge of the material into the carton 28.

It will be apparent that during the operation of the device cerealflakes or other material are not crushed nor distorted from theirnatural shape and condition, and that the cartons 2| may be rapidlyfllled with very accurately weighed material.

As previously stated any desired number of weighing devices may be usedand a corresponding number of progressively restricted streams ofthereto. It is also desirable that means be provided whereby the size orflow of all of the streams of material may be varied simultaneously orindividually. This may be accomplished by varying the speed of the motor8 in the usual well known manner, which will vary the delivery of all ofthe shakers simultaneously, or a separate variable speed motor or othervariable source 01' power may be provided a plurality for each shakerwhereby the delivery or each shaker may be adjusted independently. Separate motors may be provided for the shakers I and if desired. The motorsare preferably provided with speed reducing mechanisms and may beconnected for operation of individual shakers as illustrated in Fig. 4,or in any suitable manner.

It will, of course, be understood that a single power source may be usedif desired, and the individual shakers may be connected thereto by wellknown adjustable mechanical connections whereby the relative movement ofthe various shakers may be adjusted to vary the individual flow.

Modifications may be made in the embodiment herein illustrated anddescribed without departing from the spirit of the invention. It istherefore desired that the invention be limited only by the prior artand the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described this invention, what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent is:

1. An automatic weighing assembly comprising of independently operableweight responsive units in series relation, each unit being of themultichamber type and adapted during the discharge of a chamber filledto predetermined weight to present another chamber for resumption of theweighing cycle, said units being constructed and arranged to seriallyadvance a progressively increasing weight of material, and means fordelivering continuous streams of material to each unit to progressivelyincrease the weight advanced by consecutive units, the first streambeing of comparatively large volume flow, and each succeeding streambeing of materially less volume than the first stream.

2. In an automatic weighing machine of the character described, aweighing balance having a receptacle downwardly movable in response to apredetermined weight of material deposited therein, said receptaclecomprising a casing, a rotary means in said casing and forming materialreceiving compartments by step-by-step rotary movement during weighingoperations, a detent for restraining said rotary means at each step, anda stop member normally out of engagement with said detent andconstructed and arranged to be engaged by said detent during eachdownward movement of said receptacle to release said rotary member andenable a one-step movement of said rotary means.

3. In an automatic continuous operable weighing machine o1 the characterdescribed, a balance having a receptacle casing, a rotor in said casingand movable step-by-step during weighing operations to consecutivelyform substantially rectangular receptacles, said casing being formed toenable the discharge of material therefrom during downward movement ofsaid rotor in response to material deposited thereon, a detent on saidcasing and normally engaging said rotor to prevent rotary movementthereof, a stop member positioned normally out of engagement with saiddetent and adapted to be engaged thereby during the downward movement ofsaid casing and to thereby release said rotor for a one-step movement.

4. In an automatic weighing assembly for continually weighing andsegregating predetermined weights of material continuously suppliedthereto, means for causing said continuous fiow, means for continuallysegregating by weight amounts of said continuously flowing materialwithout interrupting said continuous flow, each segregated amountweighing slightly less than a predetermined weight, continuous flowmeans for adding to each segregated amount an additional amount ofmaterial from said continuous flow to complete said predeterminedweight, and means for successively discharging said predeterminedweights of material.

5. In an automatic weighing assembly for continually weighing andsegregating predetermined weights of material continuously suppliedthereto, means for causing said continuous flow, means for continuallysegregating by weight amounts of said continuously flowing materialwithout interrupting said continuous flow, each amount weighing slightlyless than a predetermined weight, continuous flow means for adding tosaid segregated amount an additional amount of material from saidcontinuous flow to complete said predetermined weight, means forsuccessively" discharging said predetermined weights of material, andmeans for simultaneously varying the rate of all continuous fiow.

6. In an automatic continuous reed weighing machine, the combinationwith a plurality of independently operable weight responsive units ofthe multi-receptaele type, said units being arranged to discharge fromone to another progressively, each unit having means operable only bythe weight of the material therein for discharging material from oneunit to another, oi means independent of said weight responsivereceptacles for delivering a difierent continuous volume flow ofmaterial to each receptacle.

'7. An automatic weighing device comprising a plurality of consecutivelypositioned weighing receptacles for receiving continuously flowingstreams of material to be weighed, rotary means in each receptacleforming consecutive materialreceiving compartments within saidreceptacles by step-by-step rotary movement therewithin, saidreceptacles being arranged for independent downward movement in responseto predetermined weights of material deposited in said compartments andbeing arranged to discharge said predetermined weights of material uponrotation of said rotary means, a detent associated with each receptaclenormally preventing rotation of said rotary means, a stop memberassociated with each detent adapted to be engaged thereby duringdownward movement of said receptacles to release the associated rotarymeans for one-step movement, means for flowing a continuous stream ofmaterial to one of said receptacles, said receptacle being arrangedconsecutively to discharge weights of material less than a desiredweight into a second one of said receptacles, and means for flowing acontinuous stream of material into said second receptacle to augment theweight of material supplied thereto from said first receptacle, saidsecond receptacle being arranged consecutively to discharge said desiredweights of material therefrom.

8. A continuous feed weighing assembly comprising a sponsive only to apredetermined weight of material supplied thereto, a secondmulti-receptacle scale mechanism responsive only to a greaterpredetermined weight, means independent of the weight response of saidmulti-receptacle scale mechanisms for continuously supplying acontinuous flow of material to said first multi-receptacle scalemechanism, means operatively related to the response of said firstmulti-receptacle scale mechanism to deliver an approximate weight 0!multi-receptacle scale mechanism re-' material from said firstmulti-receptacle scale segregate by increments a predetermined unitmechanism to said second multi-receptacle scale weight 01' material,said weighing means being of mechanism, means independent of the weightrethe type that upon completion of one weighed insponse of said secondmulti-receptacle scale crement, weighing 01 a succeeding increment maymechanism for continuously supplying additional be resumed duringdischarge of the prec material to said second multi-receptacle scalebatch, without requiring curtailment oi the feed ume flow, and meansoperatively related to the mechanism for eflecting advance of theweighed response or said second multi-receptacle scale batch uponreaching a pre-selected weight, and mechanism to deliver a substantiallyaccurate means for supplying to said weighing means a predeterminedweight or material therefrom. plurality of continuous streams ofdiirerent vol- 9. In weighing apparatus a plurality of weighume flow.ing means arranged in series and adapted to ad- JOHN L. FERGUSON.

